From a field in Licking County, Ohio

[Sarah Dalton]

FROM A FIELD IN LICKING COUNTY, OHIO
8/25/2005
4:30 p.m.
Message left on home answering machine:
Hi honey, this is me… I’m getting off early today so I’m going to stop at the Shull Road field and do a quick check on the milkweed there… See you later, Bye.
Okay, got all my equipment - water bottle, collecting jars, the hand counter…Oops, nearly forgot the butterfly net! and my tags!
Let’s see - I’ll start at the high end of the field and work my way down…monarchs seem to like hilltops. Thank goodness there’s no deep ditches to climb in and out of here; those ditches seem to get deeper every year.

4:35 p.m.
15 stems, 1 cat
Oh, that’s nice - a little second instar caterpillar. That’s a nice way to start out. Glad this field was mowed in the spring- no rosebushes to scratch me up and the milkweed’s nice and fresh!

4:40 p.m.
32 stems, 1 egg, 1 cat
Ah, there’s an egg! Remember to check the rest of the plant in case she laid more than one or in case someone else came along!
There’s a big patch of ragweed blooming along the road, glad I took my Claritin this morning!

4:47 p.m.
56 stems, 4 eggs, 2 cats
Getting’ better now….hi there, big boy! That’s a nice fat fifth instar! Boy, the milkweed here is in really great shape - look at all those pods! I’ll have to get back here in October to pick seed to give my teachers for their school gardens.
Good thing there isn’t any poison ivy in this field. I’m still itching where I got it last week at the Refugee Road site.

4:55 p.m.
106 stems, 15 eggs, 4 cats
Boy, it’s warmer than it looks out here, what is it, 86o? I sure wish milkweed grew in the shade. I’m getting such a tan I’ll probably have skin cancer before I’m sixty. I’ll tie on my hippie bandanna to keep the sweat from rolling onto my glasses.
Following a female butterfly laying eggs, she’s actually flying up a deer trail and laying eggs in the milkweed on either side. Got eight of her eggs before I spooked her off. She seems to be picking the medium-size plants without pods to lay on.
Good thing it’s late in the season, usually you get lots of ticks on deer trails in the spring.

5:30 p.m.
158 stems, 23 eggs, 6 cats
Hey, watch out for that spider web; look at the size of that Golden Orb spider! Hey, little caterpillar, I’m Ahnald - (deep voice) “Come with me if you want to live”.
(Hallelujah Chorus - my husband’s ring tone)
Hi Sweetie, I’m home now - where are you?
Checking the milkweed at the Shull Road site.
How long are you going to be?
Not long, I’m about halfway through (this small patch).
Well, I’m starting dinner - I think I’ll make up a tortellini casserole. Do you think you’ll be home soon?
Well, I’m having awfully good luck here…
How many do you have?
Twenty-nine so far.
How many do you need to get?
I’d like to get fifty. I’ve got lots of teachers coming in to the Nature Center for them now.
Well, hurry home, I’m putting it in the oven now.
Turn off Hallelujah Chorus, set cell phone on vibrate. It’s so peaceful out here, that loud music is jarring.

6:15 p.m.
204 stems, 29 eggs, 8 cats, 1 bfly tagged
Oh, there’s a butterfly; hey fellow, how would you like to be GCB543?
Got to watch my footing - there’s groundhog holes up ahead. Don’t want to fall in and sprain my ankle again. SWING! Ah, got him!
Husband calls again…
Dinner’s on the table, when do you think you’ll get home?
Oh, just a little while more, then I’ll leave.
Okay, hurry home.
Let’s see, I’ll check out this little swale; there’s good green milkweed in the bottom here, maybe they’ll like that…
It’s nice that there isn’t any sawgrass in this swale, I got so scratched up over on Cable Line Road last week

6:30 p.m.
287 stems, 37 eggs, 10 cats, 2 bflies tagged
Husband calls again…
Are you ever going to come home?
Yeah, but there’s a whole section I haven’t checked yet.
How many do you have?
Let’s see, 37 eggs, 10 cats, and 2 bflies
That’s forty-nine. Didn’t you say you’d stop at fifty?
Yeah, but the butterflies shouldn’t count since I let them go after I tag them.
Arrrggghhhh!
Boy, the butterflies really like the mint in this swale. It sure smells good, too.

6:45 p.m.
323 stems, 42 eggs, 11 cats, 3 bflies tagged
Husband calls again…
Sweetie, your dinner’s stone cold. Aren’t you done yet?
Well, almost (on this side of the field).
How many do you have?
42 eggs and 11 cats
Weren’t you going to stop at fifty?
Yeah, but I meant fifty eggs…
(Deep sigh) Well, hurry up, it smells awfully good. I’m going to go ahead and eat without you.
But I’m doing so good, there’s bunches of eggs in this little gully.
I just put the brownies in the oven.
Oh, you’re just trying to make this hard for me!
Now my stomach’s rumbling…

7:00 p.m.
376 stems, 46 eggs, 14 cats, 3 bflies tagged
Husband calls again…
I just got a call from Brian (our 26-year-old live-at-home trucker son). He got a run to South Carolina and won’t be home tonight. You sure you don’t want to come home now and I’ll give you a nice massage? Hmmmmm? (leering)
Well, just a few more plants, I’ll work my way back to the car now.
Just walk a straight line back to the car, sweetie, and get out of that field. I’m waiting for you (leers again).
Okay, I’ll just walk a transect back to the car…
How wide?
Six foot?
How about three foot?
Ooooohhhh, I guess so.
Well, hurry up.

7:15 p.m.
424 stems, 49 eggs, 15 cats, 3 bflies tagged
Halfway back to the car, I see a butterfly and go off to catch it. This takes me off my transect so I have to start again from where I am which is farther from the car.
Husband calls again… he doesn’t understand this logic… he’s getting mad.

7:30 p.m.
479 stems, 53 eggs, 16 cats, 4 bflies tagged
Husband calls again…
(deeply sarcastic tone) Are you sure you don’t want me to meet you there with the truck? I could turn the headlights on high and you could keep going till morning.
Oh, you won’t need to do that, it’s a full moon night… but could you bring me a sleeping bag and some mosquito repellant?
Husband hangs up…

7:45 p.m.
513 stems, 56 eggs, 18 cats, 4 bflies tagged
Boy, the sun’s getting low….what time is it?
Now I’ll swing out along this line of milkweed. Sometimes when it stands across the prevailing winds like this, it really has a lot of eggs.
Watch out for those tractor ruts, some of them are pretty deep.

8 p.m.
563 stems, 59 eggs, 19 cats, 5 bflies tagged
Oh, there’s another adult, flitting around in the last beams of sunlight! Sneak up on it quietly, Sarah, don’t wave the net around and spook it…Ooh, it’s a female…
SWING!
GOT HER!
Drat, my phone’s vibrating again - no, that’s not the phone - it’s YELLOW JACKETS!
OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!
I must have stepped in the nest; they’re all coming out of the ground!
RUN!
OUCH! They’re in my hair! Off, you nasty things!
RUN FASTER!
Back at the car now, slapping them off my legs, OUCH!
They’re still coming after me!
Get in the car, gosh, they’re bouncing off the windows!
Lean back on the seat, OUCH! There was one on my back!
Still three or four here in the car with me! Drive fast, open the windows and let them out!
Drive down to the end of the road!
Whew, I think that’s lost them.
Let’s check the damage - Stings on my right arm and side, one got me on the hand, and a bunch of them got down my right boot and stung me around the ankle. OUCH! A live one still in there… Oh, wow, I still have the butterfly in the net!
Boy, I’m all out of breath from running to the car! Or wait, is this an allergic reaction?
Remember, Sarah, the doctor said after you had that infected bee sting last year that you could be sensitized now and have more of a reaction.
He said if I was stung to go immediately and get aid. I’m way out in the country here and nobody’s around. I’m still feeling breathless and these stings are swelling up pretty good! Remember Dad and his Epi-pen!
Guess I’ll call the squad! 911 call ensues.

8:15 p.m.
563 stems, 59 eggs, 19 cats, 5 bflies tagged
Siren coming.
Squad arrives.
Cute male EMT puts a blood pressure cuff on me and starts asking questions.
How old are you, ma’am?
Fifty-five, sir.
Any health problems?
No, sir.
Your blood pressure’s 190/110, are you hypertensive, ma’am?
No, sir, borderline, maybe. I guess I am a little excited; they chased me halfway across the field back to the car!
Are you having any trouble breathing? Is your throat tight?
I’m a little winded but no….
Let’s see those stings (whistles). Do you usually swell up like that when you’re stung?
Not like this, sir. Boy, these stings hurt!
How many times do you think you were stung?
I stopped counting at eighteen.
That’s a lot of stings, have you ever had a reaction before?
No, but my dad was allergic, and the last time I got stung, it got really infected and I had to take antibiotics and the doctor said I might react more next time. I’m sorry to bother you, but I was alone and didn’t trust myself to drive into town.
That’s okay, ma’am - we’d rather be called out for nothing than have you be sick and not get help. Whoa, what’s that fluttering in your net?
Oh, that’s a butterfly I caught.
Is that what you were doing, catching butterflies?
Yeah, and looking for eggs and caterpillars.
Do you do this a lot, ma’am?
Yes, every chance I get.
So you go out in the fields and look for butterflies? This is fun for you?
Yes.
And you remembered to bring your net when you ran?
I didn't really think about it.
Oh, I forgot, Are you addicted to anything, ma’am?
OH NO, SIR, NOT ME!


Fortunately, I didn’t have a reaction, but I did finally go home.
Fictional compilation of several years of conversations from milkweed fields.

[Keith Petrosky]

Wow you've got plenty of butterflys and caterpillars by you! Great log, keep us updated!

[Pat]

Fictional compilation of several years of conversations from milkweed fields.

LOL good one, Sarah.

[Teresa]

Great story I live only 30 miles from there too

[Teresa]

I was in licking cty today Sarah and i'm amazed with the amount of milkweed along the roads! I was thrilled. I even went by a field with alot of it on 13 and wondered if that was like the field you were in. I thought about you and even looked for you. hehehe